1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to apparatus for teaching musicians how to play music at selected tempos, time signatures and beat patterns.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Mechanical metronomes have been known for many years. These devices have a spring driven wand which produces an audible click upon the completion of each stroke of the wand. The tempo of the audible click is adjusted by varying the position of a weight located on the wand in accordance with a calibrated scale.
Electronic metronomes have been developed which produce repetitive non-voice sounds at selectable tempos, time signatures and beat patterns. Examples of this type of electronic metronome are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,014,167, 4,193,257, 4,204,400, and 4,193,257. An additional example of an electronic metronome is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,218,874.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,213,372 discloses a music teaching apparatus which is programmable to produce selected pitches. The pitches may be synthesized by a frequency synthesizer or voice synthesizer.
Semiconductor chips are currently commercially available for producing synthesized voice patterns with either standard or specialized vocabularies.
Music teachers have taught music students how to follow tempo, time signature and beat patterns by repeating a sequence of numbers at a desired tempo, time signature and beat pattern. Music teachers have recognized that a voice pattern of numbers repeated at the desired tempo, time signature and beat pattern often has enabled a student to play a piece of music at the desired tempo, time signature and beat pattern when a non-voice pattern such as that produced by a conventional metronome or electronic metronome has failed to help the student.